05 January 2009 OFFICIAL LAUNCH OF THE EUROPEAN YEAR OF CREATIVITY AND INNOVATION 2009 Brussels (Belgium) - The Czech Presidency of the EU and European Commission will officially launch the European Year of Creativity and Innovation 2009 on Wednesday 7 January with the slogan "Imagine. Create. Innovate". The aim of the Year is to promote creative and innovative approaches in different sectors of human activity and help equip the European Union for the challenges ahead in a globalised world. The European Year will be launched in Prague in a conference attended by a host of personalities including high representatives of EU member states, Commissioners, members of the Czech government and several Ambassadors of the Year. The Conference will run in parallel to the meeting between the Commission and the Czech Government. After that, during a ceremony in the National Theatre in Prague, the launch of the Year will be announced by the Czech Prime Minister, Mirek Topolánek, and Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso, simultaneously with the inauguration of the Czech Presidency. The Prague conference will be preceded in the morning of the 7 January by a round table attended by a dozen Ambassadors of the Year and presided by Esko Aho, Executive Vice President Nokia, and Former Prime Minister of Finland. These eminent personalities will adopt a set of recommendations for EU governments and institutions which will be presented by Mr Aho at the afternoon conference. German inventor Mr. Karlheinz Brandenburg, French researcher Dominique Langevin, Hungarian creator Erno Rubik or Romanian film director Radu Mihaileanu will be among the participants, together with top businessmen, artists and designers.
